Royal battle: Revoke chieftaincy title or face consequences, Alaafin dares Ooni

Owoade

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, on Monday, said the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, lacks the exclusive right to confer the chieftaincy title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on businessman, Dotun Sanusi.

Alaafin, in a statement by his Director of Media and Publicity, Bode Durojaiye, in Ibadan, the state capital, said Ooni’s action was a challenge to his authority, saying that the exclusive right to confer titles that extend across Yorubaland rests solely with the Alaafin.

He explained that the Ooni’s instrument of office confines his authority to the Oranmiyan Local Government, which has since been divided into Ife Central, Ife North and Ife South.

Owoade, therefore, demanded the revocation of the title within 48 hours, warning that failure to comply would attract consequences.The monarch recalled his unity tour across Yorubaland, where he emphasised that the peace and unity of the region remain the foundation for meaningful and sustainable development.

The statement reads, “The attention of the Alaafin of Oyo and the Titan of Yorubaland, Oba Owoade 1, has been drawn to the purported conferment of chieftaincy title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland on a business tycoon, Dotun Sanusi, by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi.

“The conferment of chieftaincy title, which bothers on Yorubaland by the Ooni of Ife, is not only an affront to the referred institution of the Alaafin, who is the Titan of Yorubaland and on whom holds the exclusive right to confer any chieftaincy title which covers the entire Yorubaland on anyone.

“The Ooni of Ife is behaving as if there is no authority to check and call him to order and because of that ‘above the law’ syndrome of his, he is in the habit of walking on everybody’s’ back including the apex court in the country, the Supreme Court, which had ruled on the 3xclusive preserve of the Alaafin to confer chieftaincy title that covers the entire Yorubaland on anyone.